USA Twitter Trends of the Week, Vol 85

With hundreds of millions of daily tweets and search inquiries in the United States alone, Twitter is rich with conversations and news updates. Our USA Twitter Trends of the Week captures the top trending discussions and breaks them down for you.

Overall Twitter Trend of the Week: Paul Walker

Moments after news broke that The Fast & The Furious star Paul Walker had died, fans took to Twitter to express their sadness and grief. News first spread after a post on Walker’s Facebook page explained that the actor was a passenger in a friend’s car at the time of a car crash, which happened while he was attending a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide. The Santa Clarita Signal first reported that a red Porsche crashed into a light pole and tree, causing an explosion.

Universal Pictures has put a hold on all filming of Fast and Furious 7. “All of us at Universal are heartbroken,” Universal Pictures said in a statement. “Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the ‘Fast and Furious’ films, and to countless fans.”

It wasn’t only fans who reached out through social media to grieve Paul Walker’s death. Fast & Furious costars and friends also took to Twitter, Facebook and Instagram:

My heart is hurting so bad no one can make me believe this is real Father God I pray that you send… http://t.co/CnKblb3PWu

Top News: Black Friday

Even a week after this momentous commercial anniversary, Twitter is still humming with news and updates on Black Friday. Tweets ranged from topics such as purchases, ridiculous line ups, clever marketing schemes, and even news of Black Friday tragedies. Amidst all the chaos, one ad stood out amongst the rest, gaining mass attention and virality – in part because of the online, viral-nature of the company itself. While most brands advertised their huge sales, Cards Against Humanity (a popular party game) decided to do just the opposite and raise their prices by $5. The cheeky move didn’t hurt their sales, which proved to be higher than the same day in 2012.

Top Sports: Robinson Cano

The Seattle Mariners appear to have signed Robinson Cano, one of baseball’s top free agents this off-season, to a 10-year, $240-million US contract. Cano and his agent (and rapper/recording artist) Jay Z, flew to Seattle on Thursday to meet with upper-level Mariners Management. Twitterers have had a great time voicing their opinion on the Ex-New York Yankee, and how loosing their second baseman is going to effect the Yankees.

This deal is the third largest deal in baseball history, and will take Cano through his age-40 season.

Top Tech: Amazon Drones

Americans were excited, worried and bemused at the idea of allowing Amazon to deploy a fleet of miniature delivery drones, and they made sure the world knew by tweeting about it. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos told “60 Minutes” last week that his company hopes to roll out deliveries directly to customers’ doorsteps via miniature drones, which the company calls “octocopters,” within the next 4-5 years. Many Americans also believe the plan could become a reality within the next decade. What do you feel about drones being used to deliver goods? Let us know in the comments below.

Will be nostalgic to see games like Duck Hunt and piñata live on in the form of kids shooting down Amazon drones and keeping the contents. — Ricky Van Veen (@rickyvanveen) December 2, 2013